THE HISTORY OF E-COMMERCE

THE HISTORY OF E-COMMERCE

Contrary to popular belief, e-commerce has been around a lot longer than the World Wide Web.

The simplest definition of e-commerce is “commerce conducted via any electronic medium” Using this definition even the use of the telephone or fax machine to transact business is considered e-commerce. This means that every time you receive a catalog in the mail and pick up the phone or send in a fax to order an item, you are conducting an e-commerce transaction.

EDI AND E-COMMERCE BEFORE THE WEB

E-commerce through computer networks really started with the standard format for sharing business data that is known as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) . EDI is a method of transferring data between banks and other firms on a closed system. It’s been used in ordering systems, credit card processing , direct deposit and many other processes for the past three decades. Automatic teller machines (ATMs) and credit cards are excellent examples of the kind of e-commerce that’s been around since before the web.

E-COMMERCE ON THE WEB BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS

E-commerce has taken on new meaning, however with the advent and rapid proliferation of its use the web. E-commerce web sites are free of many of the constraints of previous types of e-commerce. For example, EDI has traditionally been very expensive to implement because of its need for dedicated networks. Phone ordering requires customers to wait for a customer service representative to pick up the phone. Many previous types of e-commerce had restrictions on the hours during which you could shop, and for those overseas (who have no access to toll free numbers) an extremely expensive phone call was necessary to order products and services electronically.

THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WEB

The internet was started as a way to exchange information, and was primarily used by researchers at academic institutions. With the introduction of Mosaic, the first graphical web browser in 1993 the possibilities of online e-commerce began to be seen by some very forward thinking, entrepreneurial people. The Netscape browser was released in 1994 and by 1995, online retail sites, such as Amazone.com were beginning to pop up. The rest as they say is history. Today there are thousands of e-commerce web sites and more are launched each day.